I am on my third linksys this year. 2 years ago my house only ran a couple of wireless devices and every thing was fine. Now I am up to 4 desktops, 2 wireless tv's, 1 wireless bluray, 3 android tables, 4 smart phones, and would like to add my 2 home servers to wireless in my house. I smealt a burning smell last week where my router was and there was no more wireless internet after that point. I put in a backup linksys160nl, but within an hour or two its useless, I need to unplug and let the router reboot and everything is fine for a while.

I am so tired of having such an unstable wireless network at home. Is it a possibility that linksys just cant handle the amount of clients I use at home. I really need my home network just to work. My home is over 2000 sq ft and its single story. My router lives in one corner and have singnal issues on the far side of the house.

Saying all this. I have done searches for best hardware and haven't been able to find anything really useful. Do I need to invest in a better wireless network?

I have looked at the Gateworks and Ubiquiti products. I would like to have a base, with a couple of access points, I would prefer if is was all a mesh, so i could just walk around and never have to change connections.

Are these Linksys routers running DD-WRT? Are your issues DD-WRT specific or just choice in networking components?

I mean faulty made in China computer components can fail. in the industry, they've built in an expiration date and planned obsolescence to your equipment to ensure a cycle of buying to support themselves. Plus most new hardware is in perpetual beta, requiring firmware updates to fix stuff that should have been working. However, occasionally we find some good stuff that lasts forever.

btw, I;ve been running DD_WRT on a Buffalo G Router for almost 4-5 years now and it;s been pretty much rock solid. i believe it the BUFFALO WHR-HP-G54. I don;t think they make it anymore but it;s proven to be a really good purchase over time. Still running the stable firmware from 2008 because I have had no need to change it.

Lately, been testing out the Asus RT-N16 router to use USB ports and Wireless N and all is going well thus far. Also using it as a low power samba windows server too. No guarantees as to whether it will fail or you won;t get a lemon but based on the positive reviews on Neweggg, it might be a good choice.

As for general network issues, I could only suggest you centrally locate your main router in the center of your house if possible and if you find a dead spot, try to run an access point to extend your range.

Are these Linksys routers running DD-WRT? Are your issues DD-WRT specific or just choice in networking components?

I mean faulty made in China computer components can fail. in the industry, they've built in an expiration date and planned obsolescence to your equipment to ensure a cycle of buying to support themselves. Plus most new hardware is in perpetual beta, requiring firmware updates to fix stuff that should have been working. However, occasionally we find some good stuff that lasts forever.

They are all running dd-wrt. When I purchase a new router I always get one that is compatible with dd-wrt. Love the functionality over stock firmware.

If i feel my router, it is normally quite warm to the touch. I think it is over heating do to the workload and then crapping out.

don;t know about the specs on the Linksys but one of the features that drew me to the Asus RT-N16 was the 480 MHZ processor and 128 mb of ram. if you were looking for a hardware recommendation, take a look at this one-can be had for 64$ after rebate which is not expensive for something with it;s capabilities.

One of my routers is an old WRT54G v2 with only 4 mb of RAM that can only run Micro build. it would bog down completely if I did any sort of bittorrenting pretty much locking out all other devices. now that could just be the weak hardware or a software fix(default was to allow 512 connections instead of 4096 due to low memory).

as for setting up APs to extend your range, i followed the steps in this wiki and it;s worked well for me. I have my network set up with 1 SSID on multiple routers and different channels.

You might be able to reuse those other Linksys routers to do this lighter weight duty. But if you say you thought you smelled some burning, do open them up and look for popped capacitors. it;s a plague on inexpensive computer components. fixing them if they are indeed blown could make your router work as good as new or better.

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